Apple extends deadline to stop using UIWebView, introduces new server notifications

Apple is extending the deadline for app updates using the UIWebView API "beyond the end of 2020," and has also introduced new subscription server notifications.

UIWebView and WebView are frameworks that allow developers to integrate web content into an app. Both were deprecated, and Apple stopped accepting apps containing the frameworks on the App Store.

Although Apple initially planned to stop accepting app updates containing UIWebView as of December 2020, the company has pushed that deadline to sometime beyond the end of the year. Though no firm deadline has been set, Apple added that it would announce the new deadline when it's confirmed.

To replace the deprecated frameworks, Apple is recommending developers use the new WKWebView API that was released in 2014. It's essentially an updated version of the old framework, and allows developers to integrate interactive web content into apps.

Additionally, in a separate developer update, Apple announced new App Store server notifications that can alert developers to a subscriber's status in real-time.

The new notifications can alert developers when a subscriber auto-renews or when the App Store begins to ask users to agree to a subscription's price. Apple says that the server notifications, which will allow developers to "create customized user experiences, are now available to test.

5 Comments

mcdave 1927 comments · 19 Years

About 4 years ago

Odd why they delayed this as SafariViewController has been around a while. Perhaps that has tighter privacy controls and Apple’s customer protection plans are coming under fire from nefarious app developers.

pg4g0001 18 comments · 8 Years

mcdave said:

Odd why they delayed this as SafariViewController has been around a while. Perhaps that has tighter privacy controls and Apple’s customer protection plans are coming under fire from nefarious app developers.

There were some edge case behaviours that UIWebView supported that WKWebView didn't. Those gaps have mostly been closed in recent years, but the backward compatibility issue held devs back. Now, there's pretty much no excuse though. UIWebView is dead and buried, and is a security issue. It should have gone a while ago.

SafariViewController doesn't help in cases where you want to embed content in existing UI, which is what UIWebView/WKWebView are for, but the security architecture of WKWebView is significantly different.

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

pg4g0001 said:

mcdave said:

Odd why they delayed this as SafariViewController has been around a while. Perhaps that has tighter privacy controls and Apple’s customer protection plans are coming under fire from nefarious app developers.

There were some edge case behaviours that UIWebView supported that WKWebView didn't. Those gaps have mostly been closed in recent years, but the backward compatibility issue held devs back. Now, there's pretty much no excuse though. UIWebView is dead and buried, and is a security issue. It should have gone a while ago.

SafariViewController doesn't help in cases where you want to embed content in existing UI, which is what UIWebView/WKWebView are for, but the security architecture of WKWebView is significantly different.

So will this stop developers serving up crappy warmed-over websites as iOS apps?

dysamoria 3430 comments · 12 Years

Rayz2016 said:

pg4g0001 said:

mcdave said:

Odd why they delayed this as SafariViewController has been around a while. Perhaps that has tighter privacy controls and Apple’s customer protection plans are coming under fire from nefarious app developers.

There were some edge case behaviours that UIWebView supported that WKWebView didn't. Those gaps have mostly been closed in recent years, but the backward compatibility issue held devs back. Now, there's pretty much no excuse though. UIWebView is dead and buried, and is a security issue. It should have gone a while ago.

SafariViewController doesn't help in cases where you want to embed content in existing UI, which is what UIWebView/WKWebView are for, but the security architecture of WKWebView is significantly different.

So will this stop developers serving up crappy warmed-over websites as iOS apps?

Doesn’t sound like it. They replaced one web content view with another.

dysamoria said:

Rayz2016 said:

pg4g0001 said:

mcdave said:

Odd why they delayed this as SafariViewController has been around a while. Perhaps that has tighter privacy controls and Apple’s customer protection plans are coming under fire from nefarious app developers.

There were some edge case behaviours that UIWebView supported that WKWebView didn't. Those gaps have mostly been closed in recent years, but the backward compatibility issue held devs back. Now, there's pretty much no excuse though. UIWebView is dead and buried, and is a security issue. It should have gone a while ago.

SafariViewController doesn't help in cases where you want to embed content in existing UI, which is what UIWebView/WKWebView are for, but the security architecture of WKWebView is significantly different.

So will this stop developers serving up crappy warmed-over websites as iOS apps?

Doesn’t sound like it. They replaced one web content view with another.

That’s a shame.